Christmas joy perseveres

It has been a particularly dark pre-Christmas with far too many tragic stories over a very short period.

Our region was dealt a terrible blow with the loss of Clearwater teachers Courtney and Skye Buck, along with their unborn child, to a highway crash this month.

Terrace teen CJ Fowler was found murdered in a Kamloops ravine, spurring calls for a national inquiry as her death adds another name to the list of hundreds of missing or dead aboriginal women across Canada.

At Domtar, 125 workers are now wondering what their future holds, whether they will continue to have a life in Kamloops after being laid off less than two weeks before Christmas.

In the U.S., a troubled young man opened fire in a school after shooting his mother, taking the lives of 20 children and six adults before his own.

It's enough to make people lose sight of all the good that goes on, but there are countless examples of people selflessly helping others right under our noses.

There's Harold John, who has cooked up turkey dinner for a decade now and handed out the meals on the street to homeless people. This year, his effort will reach even more in need as Mount Paul United Church will open its doors to allow John and other volunteers to host the dinner there.

A Valleyview business, Soul Touch Sun and Spa, collected food from its clientele to provide an entire turkey dinner, as well as gifts, for 35 families in need; students in 22 classes at Brocklehurst middle school gathered eight shopping carts full of food for the Kamloops Food Bank; on the sweet side, Franco Annicchiarico of Franco's Auto Service is giving away 22 kilograms of imported Italian cake to New Life Mission; piles of people and groups contributed more than $80,000 to The Daily News' Christmas Cheer fund and there are countless other good deeds occurring quietly behind the scenes.

While it's important to acknowledge and sympathize with those impacted by tragedy, at the same time, we should strive to remember there is balance with so many good works also taking place by kind people.

We hope all our readers and their families enjoy a peaceful, safe and happy Christmas holiday.